Making Peace
by ShortLikeMe
Summary: Dave was terrible to Kurt back then and he knows that now. When a suprise meeting gives them a chance to change things, will they take it?  Kurtofsky. Rating may change later.
1. Making Friends

**This is my first attempt at a story, I don't really have it all written out at this point but I'm pretty excited about the potential. Enjoy!**

**Discaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p>"Hey, you okay?"<p>

A hand waved in front of his face. The music was so loud he could barely hear the comment over the pulsing, hypnotic beat. He turned to the man next to him with a small smile, "Yeah, just thinking." And he had been thinking, but that defeated the purpose of coming here. You didn't go to clubs to think, you went to clubs to drink and dance and hook up with strangers. Dave Karofsky was familiar with this routine and hadn't expected this time to be any different. That was, until he'd seen someone from his past that he never thought he'd cross paths with again.

"You want a drink? I'll buy." His companion made a face, he hadn't seen Dave this out of it in a long time.

Dave hesitated before he answered, "Sure Az, anything's fine. I'll go find a table or something." Azimio Adams gave him a suspicious look before he shrugged and headed toward the bar.

As Dave located a table in the quieter part of the club he made sure to look for that face again. Kurt Hummel, his high school victim was here of all places. Dave hadn't seen him since graduation and as far as he knew Kurt had booked it to New York as soon as he was able to.

Dave spotted him near the bathroom. Kurt was laughing. Dave felt a twinge of regret. He was no stranger to regret these days. High school had been a dark time. After all, it wasn't easy being gay in a small Ohio town. Not that anyone had known he was gay in high school, he'd made sure of that. Not even his best friend, Azimio, had known until their sophomore year of college at Ohio State. He had been surprisingly okay with it. Dave couldn't help but wonder how much he'd wasted by keeping it a secret for so long. He wondered if things would have been different. Probably, but it was too late for that now. Dave tore his eyes away from Kurt as Azimio approached the table.

"So do I get to know what's up with you now or you just gonna keep spacing out?" Az said, setting down their beers. Dave glanced back toward Kurt to see what he was drinking. It was in a martini glass, Dave almost laughed at how stereotypically gay Kurt seemed.

Dave's gaze traveled back to Azimio and he grinned lightly, "Nah, man, I'm good. Sorry, just a little distracted, " but Az had followed Dave's wandering glance and he stood open-mouthed staring at Kurt.

"Bu- Wha- is that…?" He sputtered a little before trailing off and swinging his head back around to look at Dave. "What's _he_ doing here?" After he'd come out to Azimio, Dave had told him all about the things that had happened between him and Kurt.

Dave had been in love with Kurt in high school. Kurt had always been openly gay and Dave had admired it, and like some sort of elementary school crush he'd disguised it by picking on him ruthlessly. Kurt hated him, Dave had made sure of that. Kurt had never fought back or lashed out at Dave back then, except once. He'd shoved Kurt harder than he usually would have. The boy had been smiling and Dave didn't think it was fair that _he _got to be happy while Dave was miserably hiding a secret. Kurt had followed Dave as he'd walked away. They'd faced off in the locker room and seeing Kurt all flushed and angry, Dave lost it. He'd kissed Kurt. As he pulled back Dave had examined the smaller boy's face, looked deep into his blue-green eyes and searched for something other than horror and bewilderment. He had found none and Kurt had run away.

Realistically, Dave could understand why Kurt had been afraid. He understood that _now_, sure, but fear of being outed had caused him to make the following weeks hell for the little homo. He'd threatened to kill him. Dave winced. That was definitely not one of his proudest moments. Kurt had run off to his uniform-wearing, private school. For a year, anyway. After that year, Kurt had come back to McKinley High and Dave had backed off. But they'd only had a year left of school and the damage had already been done.

Dave mentally shook himself. He looked back at Azimio, who was looking at him pointedly, as if waiting for an answer. "I don't know," Dave replied glumly. Azimio nodded and turned toward the boy again. Dave glanced back and saw who Kurt was with for the first time. Finn, his memory provided. Finn was Kurt's step brother. He was nursing a beer and listening intently to whatever Kurt was saying. Kurt was talking animatedly with wild hand movements. Dave wished again that he'd been on better terms with the boy. He looked so happy. Dave was jealous.

He saw Azimio take a step toward Kurt and reached for his sleeve. "What are you doing?" He panicked slightly when Az mumbled, "One sec," and shook off Dave's grasp. He stared in horror as Azimio walked toward Kurt and Finn. Az tapped Kurt on the shoulder and he paused whatever he was saying to glance at the interruption. His eyes widened slightly in recognition and Az held out his hand for Kurt to shake. Kurt smiled slightly and shook his hand quickly. He seemed to listen for a minute and his gaze traveled past Azimio's shoulder. Dave stiffened as Kurt locked eyes with him. Kurt looked away as he concentrated once again on what Azimio was saying. He nodded a couple times and Azimio gestured vaguely behind himself. Kurt nodded again and turned to Finn. He said a couple words and Finn jerked his head in approval and headed toward the bar. Dave didn't know what was going on, but his eyes widened considerably when Azimio turned around and began leading Kurt to their table. Azimio was smiling, but Kurt just looked confused.

Dave composed himself as the two approached the table. Kurt stepped forward and began to speak. "Hey, Karofsky, it's been a while."

"Hey, Fancy." Dave winced a little at the nickname he'd given him so long ago. He hadn't meant to say it, but old habits die hard.

Kurt didn't seem too bothered, "Can I sit?" He smirked a little at Dave's surprised face.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Dave blanched. _I'm faced with someone I used to be in love with and I choose _now_ of all times to be inarticulate, _he thought.

"So." Kurt paused, taking a seat, "Azimio here said you wanted to… discuss things."

Dave shot a dirty look at Az, who raised up his arms and made a shooing gesture. "Get on with it. Make peace." He mouthed from behind Kurt before he grabbed his beer and walked back over to the bar, where Finn was chatting with the bartender.

Dave stopped watching Az and swung his gaze back to meet Kurt's questioning one. He swallowed nervously before he spoke. "Can we talk somewhere else? Somewhere… quieter? A little more private, maybe?" Dave stopped there, glancing back to where Az and Finn seemed interested in something the bartender was saying, while he waited for Kurt's answer.

"Sure. Finn and I took separate cars. There's a little diner down the street, it's pretty quiet at this time." Kurt got up to leave and Dave followed him out, chugging the rest of the beer he'd been sipping.

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><p>They'd been sitting at the diner for four minutes and thirty-six seconds - not that Kurt had been keeping track. Long enough to order coffee and send the waitress away. Long enough for Dave to clear his throat and look at Kurt like he was going to speak three times. Kurt shifted awkwardly as Dave licked his lips and took another sip of the coffee in front of him. "So…" Kurt decided to help Dave out. The only reason Kurt had come over was the look of longing and regret in the larger man's eyes. Azimio, as terrible as he had been to Kurt at McKinley, was a good friend to Dave, he'd practically begged Kurt to come let him say his peace. "Look," Kurt continued, "I don't know what it is exactly you wanted to say to me, but -"<p>

"-I'm so sorry, Kurt." Dave interrupted him. "I know it's been forever and a day since high school but I can't even tell you know sorry I am for what happened back then." Kurt stayed silent, Dave swallowed and continued, "I wasn't happy, with myself or anyone else back then. It was a rather dark place and it took me forever to come to terms with myself. Az, he's been so supportive. I-I always wondered what would have happened if he'd found out back then. Turns out," he smiled a little, "I might have been horrible to you for no reason." He stopped.

"What happened between graduation and now?" Kurt asked, "you certainly seem more…" he waved his hand around vaguely as if searching for the word. After a moment his hand dropped and he took another sip of his drink.

Dave swallowed, keeping his eyes on his coffee mug, "I came out to Azimio in college. He'd told me 'Dude, I don't care if you're gay or straight or whatever, just spare me the details, we'll always be chill.' I couldn't even believe him at the time. Pretty sure I just stared at him for a while. We didn't really have in-depth conversations about it after that, but we didn't need to. Just to know that there was one person in the world who I could count on was enough." Dave looked up at Kurt, "I wasted so much time being afraid of what others would do If they found out, when you just, you were, and everyone knew, no one had to ask or wonder. I resented you for it. I'm really sorry about what happened."

There was silence for a few seconds before Kurt responded, "It's okay. I know I want to still be mad and I want to hold a grudge forever, but I can't. I know how hard it is to come to terms with yourself. I mean, yeah, it's awful that people can't just be who they are from the beginning but I am genuinely happy for you, Dave, that you figured it out eventually."

Dave nodded. He glanced over to the clock on the wall and winced. "Kurt, I-I'd really love to do this again, catch up thoroughly. My shift starts in five hours and I really need to get some shut eye before then. You mind?" Kurt looked a little disheartened but shook his head anyway. "Great, why don't you give me your number and we can do this again." He pulled out his cell and handed it over.

When Kurt was finished putting in his number they both stood up and parted ways.

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><p>Kurt was heading to his car when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat, taking the phone out. He yanked his keys out of his coat pocket before he looked at the message. It was from an unknown number and Kurt smiled at the words as he put the phone in the passenger seat and pulled out of the parking lot.<p>

_I never stopped thinking about you. Call me sometime._

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><p><strong>ReviewsComments/Critiques welcome. Please tell me how to improve and let me know if you want me to continue. I want to see where I can take this if you guys are interested. **

**Thank you so much for reading! :)**

**Also I'm totally interested in any ideas anyone has. The rating may change later based on that.**


	2. Making Dates

**Wow, you guys are amazing, seriously. It's such a nice confidence boost when people like your writing! **

**I'm going to try to update this rather frequently, but life is life, ya know? Anyway, enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Also, I totally forgot to put one on the first chapter and I'm super paranoid and I don't want to get sued so I'm going to go fix that now.**

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><p>Kurt was going crazy. Not hypothetically or theoretically, but literally. He was<em> literally<em> losing his mind. He had three hours until he had to go meet Dave for lunch. It had been four days since the strange club meeting and yesterday Dave had asked him to get lunch so they could "catch up." Lunch was just so, so unfortunately misleading. Lunch wasn't necessarily a date or a meeting or casual or anything like that and Dave hadn't specified and it was driving Kurt _nuts_. He didn't know how he was supposed to feel about it either. Whatever _it_ was. He sighed and flung himself down on his bed.

Dave had seemed so desperate that night. It was like he was pleading at Kurt to understand him. And Kurt did, whether he wanted to or not. He desperately wanted to be mad, to hold what had happened between them against Dave and never let him forget it. Not because he felt any resentment toward him, he hadn't been lying when he said he understood, but because he felt like he should and he didn't know why. Maybe, Kurt bit his lower lip, maybe it was because Dave had been so… okay. At peace with himself.

They were both so different. Kurt was successful now and knew who he was way more than he had back then. And Dave wasn't the same insecure bully Kurt had once known, either. Kurt didn't know how to handle this Dave. _This_ Dave was new territory, unfamiliar and intriguing. It scared Kurt so much more than the Dave he'd known before. Back then he knew what to expect from the bully. Now, he didn't know what was going to happen.

Kurt sighed and sat up. He had two and a half hours now. He reached for his phone, pressing a name and calling the one person he trusted for advice. It rang twice before a click indicated that someone was on the other line. "Hello?" A male voice answered cheerfully.

"Hey, Blaine." Kurt smiled. He and Blaine Anderson had been great friends for forever. They'd tried to have a relationship in high school while Kurt was at Dalton Academy but it got awkward after they'd discovered that neither of them wanted to take the initiative and be the "man" in the relationship, figuratively of course, after all they were both very much men. "I was wondering if you could give me some of that dapper advice I find so handy."

"Sure," Blaine laughed, "What's going on? The move not as smooth as you thought?" Kurt had moved back to Lima three weeks ago to help his father after he took ill. Kurt hated the realization but the man was in his fifties and it scared Kurt to think that something might happen to him while he was off somewhere else. Carole, Kurt's step-mother, was trying to support them with her manager position at the grocery store and Finn had taken over the physical labor at Burt's car shop while his dad did the paper work, but with Finn and Carole being busy, Kurt wanted to make sure Burt was well taken care of and ensure that he knew that his son was there for him.

"Oh no, that's fine, the apartment is just _darling_ and Finn's been taking me out, getting used to places around here, it's just…" Kurt sighed. "I saw Dave the other night."

"Did he try something? Are you okay? Who do I need to beat up?" Blaine sounded concerned but Kurt laughed a little at the last question, Dave was a big guy and while Blaine may mean well, that would definitely not work out in his favor.

"No, no, nothing like that. It was civil. We went out for coffee and had a sort of heart-to-heart." He swallowed. "He, uh, he apologized and then had to go to work. He wants to meet me today for lunch. I just… wanted to know what you think. I'm rather confused." Kurt continued to tell Blaine all the things he'd been wondering about before he'd called and told him more about his encounter with Dave.

There was silence on the other end of the phone after Kurt finished. He started tugging on his hair as he waited for a reply. After what seemed like forever Blaine quietly mumbled, "Kurt, do you like him? You seem confused… conflicted, whatever. I mean if you do, and I'm not assuming anything, just saying, if you do, don't make a big deal about all of this. Take it in stride and see what happens. Sounds like you two still have quite a bit to talk about after all."

Kurt let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. "You're absolutely right, Blaine," he smiled gratefully, hoping his tone conveyed the expression Blaine couldn't see. Kurt always over-thought things and Blaine was really good at pulling him back from whatever wild thoughts he was having. "Thank you so much. I knew you'd be the perfect person to ask."

Blaine laughed. "No problem, Kurt, what are friends for?"

Kurt grinned, "Yeah, and you should totally come over and see my apartment, it's absolutely great."

"Kurt." Blaine's voice was suspicious, "This doesn't have anything to do with the fact that you haven't unpacked everything yet and you've been failing to rope me into helping you, does it?"

Kurt snickered into his hand before he answered, "Maybe a little, but in my defense I recall helping you unpack when you moved back into the house your mom left you." Kurt winced. He hadn't meant to bring up Blaine's mom. She had died from lung cancer the previous year, Blaine had been a mess.

"Yeah, Kurt, sure, I'll help you. Maybe I'll come visit this weekend." Blaine's voice sounded slightly strained. "Hey… I have to go," he said suddenly. "Good luck with Karofsky. Bye bye."

"Yeah, okay. Bye, Blaine. Thanks again for the advice." Kurt sighed when he heard the beep signaling that the call was ended. "That was stupid of me," he mumbled to himself. Glancing at the screen he noticed that he'd been on the phone for a half hour. He started to rifle through some boxes to pass the time.

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><p>One hour and fifty-five minutes later, Kurt pulled into the parking lot outside the restaurant where Dave had told him they should meet. He took a deep breath and turned the key in the ignition, silencing the engine. Walking up the short pathway to the restaurant he turned toward the parking lot and spotted Dave stepping toward him. He grinned to himself at their almost perfect timing. It was like clockwork.<p>

He waved and called to the other man, who walked briskly toward him. "Shall we?" Dave opened the door for Kurt to step through before following him inside.

"Table for two, please," Dave politely told the hostess.

"Certainly, right this way, gentlemen."

Their table was against a wall, private enough for a conversation but public enough that it wasn't incredibly awkward. They ordered drinks after they sat down, the waiter scurrying away to give them some privacy.

"Uh, how are you doing?" Kurt began, awkwardly.

"Fine, shift ended early today, which was nice. Got to take a small nap. Sometimes it's difficult to work such odd hours but, hey, what can ya do?" He chuckled.

"What do you do?… If you don't mind me asking."

"Ah, I'm a cop. For almost a year and a half now. It's… different. Mostly quiet because, well it's Lima. But sometimes interesting things happen."

"So should I expect you to order a doughnut for lunch?" Kurt teased.

Dave snorted, "Silly stereotype. We don't really have coffee and doughnut breaks." He paused for a beat before he continued with a wink, "After all then when would we take our breaks for tea and crumpets?"

"To be perfectly honest I'm a little astonished that you know what a crumpet is, let alone that it goes with tea." Kurt had a fleeting thought that he might have offended the larger man but Dave gave a low laugh and Kurt grinned in relief.

"So, Kurt, what do you do? Broadway? Television?… Fashion?" He looked genuinely interested. "You've always been rather ambitious."

Kurt waved his hand, "Oh nothing like that." The waiter brought their drinks and Kurt took a sip before he continued. "I actually recently discovered my love for accessorizing rooms rather than people. They don't talk back, which means they automatically lo-ove whatever I do." Dave chuckled.

"That actually fits you. So why did you come back to Lima?"

"I moved back a couple weeks ago. I got a job offer for a furniture enterprise to be a consultant. People tell me their price range and measure the room they're doing and I put something together with an estimate. It's fun, like playing dress up games for a living." Kurt was very enthusiastic about his job.

The waiter came back and the two men ordered. Dave scoffed teasingly at Kurt's caesar salad and Kurt chided him about how that greasy burger is bad for his health. It was weird and familiar but it worked, them being friendly like that. Dave was pleased.

There was an awkward silence after the waiter left with their menus and orders. Dave began glancing around the restaurant, in search of something interesting to talk about when Kurt broke the quiet. "Dave, can I ask you something?" Dave nodded so Kurt continued, "Is this a date? Because while that wouldn't really be a problem, I'm not sure how I feel about it right now."

"It doesn't have to be anything you don't want it to, Kurt. But as long as we're being honest there's something I'd like to come clean about. I still like you, a lot, and after all these years I'm still attracted to you. That being said, if you'd ever be willing, in the future, to give this a shot, whatever it is between us because I'm sure there's something, I'd be happy to give us a shot, too." Dave looked so earnest that all Kurt could do was nod, and before he could reply further their waiter came back with their food.

They ate in mostly silence, both lost in thought, it was a lot for Kurt to take in. He had felt it, the it Dave had mentioned. They definitely had chemistry, or something like it. Kurt couldn't help but think about what a cliché storyline this was. Boy bullies girl (boy), boy ends up having deep dark secret, boy and girl (boy) lose touch, boy and girl (boy) reconnect later and fall in love… or whatever they were doing right now. Kurt smiled to himself.

"What're you smiling about?" Dave had noticed.

"Oh nothing at all." Kurt waved it off, "You just have ketchup on your chin." It wasn't a lie, Dave did have ketchup on his chin, it just wasn't the complete truth behind his expression.

"It happens." Dave gave an exasperated sigh.

"Here, I'll help." Kurt leaned over and wiped off the condiment with the pad of his thumb. Dave locked eyes with him. "There," Kurt said, wiping his thumb on his napkin, he had yet to pull away. "All better," he whispered. The atmosphere changed suddenly, getting more personal. Kurt leaned in a little closer-

"-Everything alright here?" The waiter smiled warmly, unintentionally ruining the moment. "Can I get you anything?"

Kurt mentally shook himself, "No, thank you, I think we're almost done here." Kurt attempted a smile, but it wound up looking more like a grimace.

"Great, I'll go grab the check." He smiled and disappeared.

Dave cleared his throat and took a sip of his drink, averting his eyes. He discretely wiped off his mouth with the napkin, "Thanks," he mumbled.

The waiter returned, placing the check in the middle. They both reached for the check, startled at the sudden movement of the other table occupant.

"It's on me, I invited you out." Dave insisted.

"At least let me pay for half," Kurt protested, adding "please?" to the end.

Dave shook his head. "Nah, you can get the next one." Kurt nodded. Neither of them questioned whether there would be a next time to pay for.

They stood as Dave placed some bills on the table and headed toward the entrance of the restaurant.

"This was nice, Kurt." Dave said once they approached the spot where they would need to part. "I learned a lot."

"Yeah, me too. Thanks for having lunch with me, Dave." Kurt smiled warmly at him. "We have to go out again soon, after all, you promised me the bill." Dave chuckled.

"I'll see you soon then, Kurt?" Dave placed his hand on Kurt's shoulder as the smaller boy nodded. "Great," Dave continued, "drive safely." He removed his hand and strolled toward his car.

Kurt strode to his car and sat heavily in the driver's seat. He smiled to himself and took out his phone.

_Dinner, Friday. Pick me up at Eight. - Kurt_

Kurt put the phone down and pulled out of the parking lot. Friday was in two days. It seemed reasonable. He hoped Dave thought so, too, and made a mental note to text him with his address the next day.

His phone buzzed as he pulled into the parking spot he'd been assigned to at his apartment complex. He silently cheered at the words on the screen.

_I can hardly wait._

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><p><strong>That certainly seemed longer... :D<strong>

**Also, I think I'm a teensy weensy obsessed with those line break things, they look neat. Hahahaha.**

**Reviews/Comments/Critiques welcome!**


	3. Making Progress

**Okay so I uploaded this and I wasn't really done yet but it said it was 1,234 words and that was so delightful that I was really upset that I had to add more because I wasn't finished. **

**Sorry if this is a little late. Been dealing with graduation stuff and a rather messy break-up. Ergh. Not really an excuse, so anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I almost changed my idea for it completely and it's kind of a cop out because a dinner date would NOT write itself and this came out instead. I mean I'm not completely unhappy with it... I'm going to stop talking now and let you read. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, unfortunately. Not Glee or Disney's Aladdin. :C**

**Er, wait, one last thing. "MIA" means "Missing in action" if anyone doesn't know that. It makes sense later, hahaha.**

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><p>When Kurt woke up on Friday morning he knew something was wrong. His throat was sore, his eyes were teary, he was sweating all over and his head felt like he'd been up drinking all night. He groaned pitifully and rolled out of bed, tottering into the bathroom. He sniffled and peered at himself in the mirror. The face looking back at him was not the face he'd seen last night getting ready for bed. This face was red and puffy and sick. Kurt exited the bathroom and rifled through a box of things he had yet to unpack looking for cold medicine. He had to get better by tonight, he was <em>not<em> missing that dinner. He frowned after searching a second box, failing to locate the medication.

An hour later Kurt felt like giving up. He sulked and glared at the stack of boxes he'd just gone through. "This sucks." Kurt muttered to himself. "I think I have to cancel. I should have unpacked last week."

Kurt padded into his bedroom and grabbed his phone off the charger. He scrolled through his contacts and frowned as he called Dave.

The phone rang twice before someone picked up. "Hello?" Dave said groggily.

"Hey Dave," was his congested reply.

"Kurt, is everything okay? You sound terrible." Dave sounded less sleepy and more concerned.

"I'm sick, Dave, and I'm really sorry. I really wanted to go tonight and I was going to try to medicate and get better but I can't even find the stupid cold stuff and now I have to look through more boxes and ugh." Kurt groaned loudly and flopped backwards onto his bed.

"It's quite alright, Kurt, I understand. I really hope you feel better soon."

Kurt threw his arm over his eyes. "Thanks, Dave. I was really looking forward to dinner. This is terrible."

Dave laughed a little, secretly pleased that Kurt seemed so upset about having to miss dinner. "Yeah, it is, but there will be other days." He smiled at the receiver. "Go back to sleep, Kurt, get well soon."

"I will try, thanks."

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><p>Kurt thought that that would be the end of the conversation until an hour later when he received a text message from Dave. <em>You feeling better?<em> It said.

Kurt quickly typed out a negative response and hit send. Tossing his phone down next to him in bed.

A couple minutes later the phone buzzed again.

_You will be_, the screen said.

Kurt frowned a little at the vague response. He typed out a quick reply.

_Not today, I can't get back to sleep and my cold meds are still MIA. :(_

As soon as Kurt sent the message there was a knock on his front door. He groaned and threw the covers off himself. He muttered grumpily and made his way to the door, being sick had always made him grouchy. Kurt shuffled to the door and opened it widely.

"Hey, Kurt. You look pretty awful." Dave grinned. He was standing at Kurt's door holding two grocery bags. He pushed his way past Kurt gaping in the doorway, "which way is the kitchen?"

"Bu- wha- why are you here?" Kurt shut the door and stepped further into his apartment, looking for Dave who had disappeared. He had apparently found the kitchen because he was taking things out of the bags he had set on the counter when Kurt caught up to him.

"You're sick, Kurt. I'm helping. Nice hair by the way." Kurt raised his hand to his head and grimaced. He lowered his arm and looked over to where Dave was still pulling things out of bags. He saw that the larger man had brought over cold medicine, tea, and soup. Dave turned around with a stuffed bear in his hand, it was dressed up like a doctor.

Kurt stifled a snicker and asked "What is that?"

"It was with the cold medicine, I thought it was cute or something." Dave muttered, handing him the bear. "Go lay down on the couch, if you can find it," he remarked, quirking up an eyebrow at all the boxes.

"I can find it just fine thank you very much." Kurt mumbled and leaned against the doorway, he made no move to leave.

"I didn't know what kind of soup or tea you'd like so I just got a couple kinds," he called loudly, assuming Kurt had left the kitchen. He pulled out three containers of hot pre-made soup and four different types of tea. Dave began randomly opening cupboards until he got to one with mugs in it. "Ah ha!" He whispered triumphantly. Kurt snorted to himself. This whole situation was so weird, he'd never have been able to picture the bigger man being so domestic and nurturing if he hadn't seen it firsthand.

Dave filled the cup with water and microwaved it while he debated between teas. He settled on chamomile and mint tea, mostly because the name was "Sweet Dreams" and he thought it sounded nice. The microwave buzzed and he pulled out the mug and stuck the teabag in there, simultaneously reaching for the cold pills and popping a couple out of the box.

He hummed to himself and turned around with the tea and the medicine, seeming startled but not surprised to see Kurt standing in the doorway. "Didn't I tell you to go lay down?" He chided.

"But then I would have missed all this," Kurt laughed. Dave nudged Kurt's calf with his foot as he went into the living room. Kurt followed him in.

"Do you have blankets or something somewhere?" Dave gave the tea and medicine to Kurt. "Take these," he said and began looking around for a blanket before Kurt answered.

"Hall closet." Kurt took the medication and set the mug down on the coffee table as he sat on the couch.

Dave left the living room and returned with a blue fleece blanket. He tossed it at Kurt, "Lay down. You hungry? I brought tomato, chicken noodle, and clam chowder."

"Actually I am a little. Tomato sounds awesome, Dave."

Dave nodded and left the living room again.

Kurt grabbed the TV remote on the coffee table before settling into the couch. He'd never admit it out loud but he missed being taken care of. His father had tried after his mom died but it wasn't really the same and Kurt had learned to take care of himself. Kurt wondered vaguely how Dave seemed so comfortable with it and made a mental note to ask later when he wasn't feeling so drowsy. He opened his eyes when he heard Dave come back into the room, he hadn't remembered closing them.

"You have to sit up to eat this or you'll make a mess," Dave told him. Kurt complied and scooted over to make room on the couch for Dave to sit. He did and handed Kurt the soup and a spoon. "You want me to put on a movie or something?" Dave asked, eyes shifting over to the TV that Kurt had forgotten to turn on.

"Mmm, no, I'm good," Kurt sipped the soup and handed Dave the remote. "Here, you pick something on TV."

Kurt snorted when Dave picked a football game. "Seriously?" He said.

"Your own fault, I asked you to pick something." Dave grinned at him and stood up, intending to find a movie from the box labeled "Movies" that he thought Kurt would like. He opened it and just stared. "So I'm guessing there's nothing in here that isn't either Disney, a musical, or both, correct?" He turned around and raised an eyebrow at the man curled up on the couch.

Kurt waved his hand dismissively, "There's probably like Harry Potter or something in the bottom, or like, maybe something Finn got me that he really wanted. I don't know, just put something in." The last part was said with a yawn. Kurt was suddenly _really _tired. He finished half the container of soup and got up to put it in the kitchen. Suddenly Dave was infront of him, taking the container and the spoon and shoving him lightly back onto the couch.

"You sit, I got this." He left the living room with the container and came back with a thermometer. "Temperature, now." He gave the thermometer to Kurt who stuck it under his tongue. Dave went back to rifling through the box. He pulled out a title, not really comprehending what it was but figuring that you couldn't go wrong with Disney. Dave was a sports guy, sure, but he used to babysit, he watched Disney, too. After he put the movie in, Dave returned to the couch. Kurt was sitting in the middle now so Dave sat on his left. He took the thermometer, Kurt had a small fever but the cold medicine should make it go down. He put the thermometer on the table and glanced up at the TV. Vaguely, he realized they were watching Aladdin. It was one of his favorites, not that he would ever admit that out loud. They were watching it for a while, it was the part where Aladdin asked Jasmine if she trusted him, when he felt Kurt's head drop onto his shoulder - when had they gotten so close? Dave absentmindedly began humming along with Aladdin's part of "A Whole New World" and Kurt's breathing deepened; he had fallen asleep.

Dave attempted to get up so Kurt could lie down but the sleeping boy's arms moved to wrap around Dave's bicep while he slept. He made an irritated sound in his sleep as Dave shifted again. He sighed and relaxed, figuring Kurt could nap a little more, at least until the movie ended. And the movie did end, Kurt remained sound asleep. Dave shook his shoulder lightly, "Kurt?" Kurt groaned and tilted his head further into Dave's arm. "Kurt wake up. If you want to go back to sleep I'll take you in your room, do you?" Kurt nodded against his arm but didn't make any move to let go or wake up. "You atleast need to let go." Dave smiled amusedly as Kurt shook his head.

"'M sleeping." Kurt mumbled but his arms left Dave's and Dave stood up. Kurt started to fall forward before he sat up and blinked sleepily. "Hey." He whined. "You weren't supposed to move." Kurt frowned and rubbed his eye.

Dave laughed. "Come on, we'll put you in bed." It was too early for bed but that didn't matter. Dave grabbed the blanket off the couch and followed Kurt with it as he paddded down the hallway to his room. Kurt got in bed and Dave tucked him in, putting the blanket over the top of his comfortor. "Is there anything you need, Kurt? Or do you want me to go and let you sleep?"

"I don't need anything," Kurt mumbled sleepily, "but will you stay?"

"Sure, Kurt, I won't go anywhere." Dave had hesitated, but it's not like it was hurting anything, him being there.

Kurt scooted over in bed and looked at Dave expectantly. Dave hesitated again. "Nothing's going to happen, Dave, I'm sick. I just want some company, please?" He patted the spot next to him and Dave obliged, sitting on top of the covers after he took off his shoes.

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><p>Dave woke up to the shower running. It took him a minute to figure out where he was, and when he remembered, he smiled faintly. Kurt had wanted him to stay, that meant something right? He liked to believe so. The shower turned off. Dave was suddenly nervous. Kurt came out of the bathroom wearing pajama pants and the towel around his neck. "Good morning!" He smiled. Dave smiled back.<p>

"Good morning. Feeling better?" Kurt looked better than he had yesterday and his voice wasn't as scratchy.

Kurt nodded. "A lot better. You were such a great help yesterday. Do you have to go home anytime soon?" Kurt smiled suspiciously.

"Not for a few hours I guess. Why?" Dave asked warily.

"Well I have yet to be successful roping someone into helping me unpack boxes and since you're _here _anyway and I am willing to promise to take you out to dinner afterwards I figured that you'd be the perfect person to con into it, pleeeaaaaasseee?"

Dave laughed. "Sure, Kurt."

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><p>Copious amounts of box-unpacking later, Dave told Kurt he'd come pick him up in an hour, he wanted to go home and shower. Kurt thought that was fine and passed the time while he was gone cleaning his kitchen.<p>

A knock on the door interrupted Kurt and he opened it wide. "Hi," he said breathlessly to Dave standing on the landing.

"Hey," he smiled. "You ready?"

"Yeah, let me grab my coat." Kurt did so quickly and followed Dave to the car.

"So where do you want to go?" Kurt asked as they pulled out of the parking lot.

"No idea, you got anywhere specific in mind?" Dave drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Not really, Finn told me about this restaurant on Elm, I don't know the name of it but we can go there."

"Sure, we'll probably be able to recognize it when we get there."

It didn't take long to get there and when they did, the place didn't look all that crowded, allowing them to be seated almost immediately.

Dave grinned at Kurt across the table. "You know, you get _awfully_ clingy when you're sleepy."

Kurt blushed. "I could just turn that around on you and say you took advantage of a sick person." Dave laughed.

"Really, Kurt? You had a cold and you practically begged me to stay over."

"Yeah, well what can I say?" Kurt smiled over the glass of wine he ordered. "You're warm and comfy, was beneficial to my health that you slept over." He winked.

Even though they'd only been reunited for a little over a week, they were already so comfortable around each other. Kurt realized that he really had forgiven Dave for high school. The realization frightened him a little, but only because it didn't scare him anymore to be with Dave. He realized suddenly that he could see them together.

"It was pretty adorable though." Kurt blushed again. "So." Dave began, "let's play a game." He grinned.

"What kind of game?" Kurt quirked up an eyebrow.

"Just a 'Get to know you' game, ask each other questions." Dave answered, adding, "What's your favorite color?"

Kurt scoffed, "_Really?"_

"Starting out simple, answer it."

"Hmm. I don't have one."

"You don't?" Dave smirked at him.

"Nope. No one should limit themselves to one color. Sounds _dreadful_." Kurt put the back of his hand to his forehead dramatically. Dave chuckled and Kurt asked him, "So why did you want to become a police officer?"

"Wanted to make up for my adolescence actually. Chase the bad guys instead of being one." He grimaced a little.

"Well I think that's pretty admirable of you." Kurt smiled teasingly.

Dinner passed with more of these questions. Kurt asked Dave about his nurturing behavior, brought on by having a younger sister who was sick often as a child. Dave found out more about Kurt's life in New York and why he'd come back to Ohio. It surprised Dave at how much the two managed to tease each other with their game. They were both a little tipsy by the end of the meal and Kurt paid as Dave took him home.

Dave walked him to the front door and Kurt turned toward him, making up his mind about something. "Dave?"

"Yeah, Kurt?"

"I had a really great time tonight."

He grinned widely, "I'm glad."

"Thanks." Before he lost his nerve, Kurt leaned up and kissed Dave on the mouth.

Dave was surprised at first but then when he figured out what was going on, he reciprocated enthusiastically, snaking his arms around Kurt's waist and pressing him closer as Kurt's arms went around his neck. They moved together for a few more seconds before air became necessary and they broke apart.

"I had fun," Kurt whispered and disappeared into his apartment.

Dave brought his hand up to his lips and grinned giddily. He didn't stop smiling the entire way home, and even though it was almost painful by the time he went to bed, he fell asleep smiling, too.

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><p><strong>Well <strong>_**that **_**was sooo long. This chapter just would not end itself. Sorry if it's awful. I have the next one started though so, yay? **

**Reviews/Comments/Critiques welcome!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Making Things Difficult

**It's short but I wanted to get it out before I had to leave. Enjoy! The next one should come soon, I think.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p>It had been approximately a week since the kiss. Kurt and Dave had spent almost every night together on Kurt's couch. They hadn't really talked about it, but in some way they both accepted that they were moving forward. Into what, Kurt wasn't sure.<p>

Watching movies at Kurt's was lovely and Dave had been so incredibly helpful with helping him unpack, but now Kurt wanted to go out. He wanted to go dancing with Dave, who had no objections when Kurt proposed the idea. So that is how the two men ended up at the same club they'd met at that first night, surrounded by gyrating bodies and alcohol.

Kurt didn't want to drink, but Dave had had a rough day and felt that indulging in some numbing booze was just the right treatment. He ordered a beer at the bar and Kurt hopped onto a stool. "Loud," he yelled, nodding at the dance floor. Dave had to agree, the music was really loud. It always was. "Dance with me, Dave!" Kurt pulled on Dave's arm and hopped off the barstool. Dave looked a little nervous but followed him anyway, nursing his beer.

"I really need to be more drunk for this!" Dave smirked at Kurt, taking a sip of his beer, as if to punctuate his comment.

Kurt laughed, moving to the beat, "Oh please! I'm not that bad."

"I wasn't talking about you, Kurt." Dave shimmied a little and Kurt had to admit the big man did look a little funny. Not that he would ever say so because this was really fun and the bigger man's pride wouldn't let himself continue if Kurt began laughing at him.

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><p>Four hours later Kurt was hauling a giggling, drunk Dave out of the club. "C'mon, Dave, lets go." He was really glad Dave still had some of his motor skills because there was no way Kurt would have been able to drag him out of the building, across the parking lot, and into the car if the man had been unable to carry himself.<p>

"Kurt th't w's fun. We-we should go again. Like right now." Dave nodded enthusiastically, hugging Kurt.

"How about we just go now, hmm, Dave? I think that's enough fun for tonight." Kurt was an interesting mixture of mostly amused and a little annoyed. After a few beers Dave had started hugging people. It was all very disconcerting and after a couple people got more handsy than Kurt liked he'd decided it was time to go, like now. "Come on, Dave, get in the car." Kurt tsked as Dave refused to climb into the passenger seat.

"But I dun wanna leeeaaave." Dave frowned.

"Please, Dave, I promise you will feel differently in the morning. Just get in the car." Kurt breathed a sigh of relief as the larger man obeyed because really, Kurt was not going to be able to make Dave do anything he didn't want to do.

Kurt went around to the other side after he closed the door and hopped into the driver's seat. He looked over at Dave, who had his brows furrowed confusedly. "Dave?" Dave grunted in recognition but didn't look any less perplexed. "Dave, what's the problem?"

"I forgot how." He waved his right hand and Kurt noticed that he had the seatbelt in it. He let out a burst of laughter and leaned over to grab the metal device.

Dave inhaled when Kurt's hair was in his face. "Mmm, you smell gooood. You smell just like Kurt. He smells good." Dave closed his eyes and grabbed Kurt's hair in his left hand before nuzzling his face in it.

Kurt froze, his hand on the seatbelt. He attempted to straighten himself but Dave wouldn't release him. "…Dave?" Dave made a noise of acknowledgement. "Dave you need to let go, I need to drive."

"But smells good. I dun wanna." He wrapped his arms around Kurt and moved his face against Kurt's hair.

"Dave, please? I need to drive you home." Dave reluctantly let go and Kurt buckled him in. "Dave, I need you to tell me where you live," he added, pulling out of the parking lot.

"I live in Ohio." Dave closed his eyes as his head lulled to the side and he leaned on the window.

Kurt bit back a retort, "Your address, Dave, I need your address."

"One, four, five, six, two, Brower road." Dave mumbled, not opening his eyes.

"Dave." Kurt sighed exasperatedly. "Your address, not mine, that's my address."

"No 's not. I live at one, four, five, six, two, Brower road."

"Dave, that's where I live, where do you live?"

"That's my house."

"No, Dave," Kurt rolled his eyes, "that's my apartment. Where do you live?" Kurt's question only met silence. "Dave?" Kurt glanced over. Dave was breathing softly, he had fallen asleep. Kurt groaned and decided to just take him to his apartment.

When they got there, Kurt turned off the ignition and looked over. Dave was still sleeping. Kurt bit his lip, trying to figure out how he was going to get him inside. It was a really good thing Kurt lived on the bottom floor or else they'd never make it.

Kurt stepped out of the driver's seat and locked the door, moving around to the other side of the car. He opened it and winced as Dave's head dropped heavily onto his shoulder. Kurt had forgotten Dave was leaning on the car door.

Dave moaned irritably. "Wha?" He raised his head and blinked groggily.

"Let's go inside," Kurt told him. Thankfully, this time Dave remembered how to unbuckle himself and he leaned heavily on Kurt as he stumbled out of the car and toward the apartment.

"See? Told you this was my house." Dave mumbled sleepily and Kurt's shoulders shook as he laughed. "Stop that," Dave muttered, "'S making my head feel weird."

"Oh trust me, it's going to feel a lot worse tomorrow." Dave frowned at this. "I need you to get off me for a minute, Dave, lean against the wall so I can unlock the door."

"No. 'S my house and I'll open it." Dave fumbled in his pocket for a long time and held up his keys triumphantly. The distraction had been enough for Kurt to get his own out and open the door. "I do it." Dave reiterated and attempted to stick his own key in the already open door. "'S not working." Dave frowned. "Why's it not working, Kurt?"

Dave looked so upset that Kurt couldn't help but want to console the poor man. "It's not working because, um, because you already opened it… with magic… and so now it doesn't need keys."

"Okay," Dave looked at him warily, like he didn't really believe the story, but he stumbled into the dark apartment anyway.

Kurt took Dave to his bed. It was pressed up against a wall and there was a nightstand on the side that wasn't. It was also the closest sleeping place to the bathroom. Kurt hoped that Dave wouldn't drunkenly roll off the bed and injure himself if he placed him near the wall. "You okay sleeping in here, Dave?" He asked the other man, who seemed to be dozing while standing up.

"Of course," he mumbled, "'S my house. My room. Mine." Kurt couldn't help but be reminded of a small child. Everything was yours when you were little, except the broken things. Dave shuffled forward and pulled Kurt over to the bed and collapsed onto it. "You're mine, too." Kurt's eyes widened a little in shock as Dave nuzzled the hand he was dragging. "You can sleep here, too, 'kay?"

"Um." Kurt swallowed and pulled his hand out of Dave's grasp and backed away a little. "I don't think that's a good idea, Dave. I'll take the couch, okay?" Dave apparently didn't like that, because suddenly Kurt found himself face down on the mattress. Dave had yanked him forward and Kurt had fallen onto the bed beside him.

"No, stay," Dave mumbled.

"…Okay, Dave, I'll stay. At least until you fall asleep." Dave smiled in success and maneuvered underneath the covers. Kurt did the same and was fully intending to leave when Dave fell asleep when the larger of the two wrapped his arms around the smaller. Kurt tensed a little, he wasn't used to being this close to someone and Dave was pressed against him completely.

"Go t' sleep, Kurt." Dave grumbled sleepily and nuzzled his face into Kurt's hair. " G'night."

"Good night." Kurt whispered back, and despite the initial discomfort, he was getting sleepy. In a way it was actually very comforting to have someone else's warmth pressed up against you. He smiled into his pillow and drifted off.

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><p><strong>Like I said, it was short.<strong>

**Reviews/Comments/Critiques welcome!**

**I might go back and edit a couple things but I was in a hurry. **


	5. Making It Clear

**I am such a terrible procrastinator, I should totally be doing my math homework right now. **

**Thank you all for the positive reviews! They makes me so happyyyyyy! :D**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, it's very unfortunate because Max Adler is YUMMY.**

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><p>When Kurt woke up he was cold. This was weird because he specifically remembered being oh-so-warm as he went to sleep. His arm groped around on the bed behind him and felt nothing so he cracked open his eyes and noticed it was still dark outside. He rolled over, fully intending to go back to sleep. His eyes began to close, only to flutter open once more when he heard a retching sound come from the direction of the bathroom.<p>

Kurt stood immediately and silently shuffled to the kitchen, where he retrieved two pain killers and a glass of water. He made his way to the bathroom as his brain provided details of the previous night. It was not unusual, apparently, for him to wake up to people throwing up in his bathroom. He couldn't even count how many times Blaine had done it.

Distantly, he remembered that this time it was _not_ Blaine and he hesitated for a moment before pushing open the slightly ajar bathroom door. "Dave?" He called, nudging the door open with a socked foot. Someone moaned in response and Kurt took that to mean he could enter.

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><p><em>Earlier:<em>

Dave felt sick, he felt really sick. He pulled the warmth he was holding onto closer to him, hoping it would dispel the nausea he was feeling and make his pounding headache go away. As the sickness loomed closer, Dave realized that the warmth was Kurt and that the smaller man would not be happy with him if he was puked on.

Dave sat up, releasing his hold on Kurt and actively looking for the bathroom before he began to move, Kurt had been nice and forgiving but Dave was sure that that would end if he mistook the bathroom for a different room. He got up slowly, trying to fight off the disorientation that was making his nausea worse. His stomach clenched painfully and he made a dash for the bathroom door.

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><p><em>Present:<em>

Kurt pushed the door open wider and entered the small bathroom. He saw the figure that was Dave hunched around the toilet. "Dave, how's it going?" He inched closer.

"I feel like I'm _dying_." Dave's hoarse reply was muffled by the arm his head was resting on.

Kurt couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the man's overdramatic response. "I brought you something, take these." He handed the painkillers and water to Dave. "And you should probably go eat something, too. It'll make you feel better, I promise." Kurt was trying _really_ hard to feel bad for the obviously miserable man, but he couldn't help but remember why he never drank enough to feel it and he internally chided Dave for getting really drunk. "You don't have to work today, right?" Dave shook his head. "Good, you'll stay here for the day and hopefully feel better later." Kurt backed up toward the door when Dave groaned again. "I'm going to start breakfast, eggs and toast seem harmless enough." The last part was mostly to himself.

Dave stood up from the toilet, he was feeling a little better. "Kurt, it's like four thirty, just go back to bed, I think I'm fine now. I'll sleep on the couch." Dave would _much_ rather climb back in bed with Kurt but he didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

"Um… well, you… you can just come back in my room… if… if you want." Kurt stuttered, hoping that it was dark enough that Dave couldn't see him blushing. "I-I mean, just in case… it is closer to the bathroom."

Dave cheered internally. This was awesome, incredible, amazing and every other single word that meant positive things that Dave couldn't think of right now. He felt a hundred times better than he had when he'd first woken up. "Thanks, Kurt." Dave smiled. "You wouldn't happen to have an extra toothbrush or some mouthwash or anything, would you?"

Kurt nodded toward the cabinet above the sink and left Dave to finish in the bathroom while he took the glass back to the kitchen.

Kurt didn't know why he was so eager to hop back into bed with Dave. He certainly wasn't ready for any _intimacies _with the man yet, but having that warmth with him had been very comforting, he wasn't ready to say goodbye to it. He put the glass in the sink, not wanting to bother with it right now, and headed back toward his room.

Kurt made the bed, not because it was terribly messy, but because he seriously needed something to do or he was going to over-think sleeping in the same bed as Dave. He looked down at himself and grimaced. He had never changed out of his clothes and they were definitely going to be wrinkled now. He pulled out a t-shirt and some loose pants before quickly shedding his clothes, piling them on the floor, he'd deal with those at a more reasonable hour.

He was in the middle of putting the pants on when Dave strolled in. He was turned away and didn't see him enter, but he heard a sharp intake of breath and turned around, yanking on the pants quickly. "Er, sorry." Dave muttered, averting his eyes. "I should have knocked."

"No, I should have warned you, the door was wide open." Kurt, in hopes of making the situation less awkward, got fully clothed and grabbed a pair of the pajamas Finn kept at Kurt's for when he stayed there. "Here." He handed the set to Dave, "These are Finn's. They should fit you better than any of my things would."

Dave left the room to change and came back to find Kurt already in the bed. Unsure of how to go about it, he bumbled awkwardly to the bed and had to crawl past Kurt to get to the side he'd slept on.

"Dave?" Kurt asked, when he felt the bigger man stop fidgeting.

"Yeah?" Dave's reply was slightly muffled.

"Goodnight." He smiled at the ceiling. This felt so right, somehow. Like this is where they were both supposed to be.

"Goodnight, Kurt." Dave closed his eyes, but he had one more thing to say before he went back to sleep. "Thanks." He whispered in the dark. "For everything." He didn't know if Kurt acknowledged him or knew what exactly Dave was thanking him for, but it didn't really matter, because Dave knew.

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><p>The next time Dave woke up he felt considerably less nauseous. He felt the warmth in his arms again and smiled, holding it closer. "Mmmm." He hummed into it and buried his face in the warmth's hair. Inhaling deeply, he remembered where he was, and who that was, and why he should probably back away before he freaked Kurt out. Kurt turned in his arms, facing Dave now, and cradled himself against Dave's broad chest. Dave was trying really hard not to just give in and let himself enjoy this, Kurt hadn't really been specific about where they stood and while Dave was perfectly ready for a commitment with him, he wasn't sure Kurt was. Kurt's face buried itself in Dave's neck and Dave shut his eyes tightly at the feeling of hot breath on his skin.<p>

His eyes shot open again when he felt Kurt's tongue. He was sure the man was still sleeping. He had no idea how he was supposed to react to this but Kurt was so not making it easy for him. He accidentally let out a moan when he felt lips accompany the tongue. Kurt was kissing his neck. In his sleep. And Dave had no idea what he was supposed to do about it. He wasn't sure if this was even considered taking advantage of him if Kurt was _technically_ the one making moves. The set of lips trailed upward and Dave's eyes clenched shut again, his head involuntarily leaning down to guide those lips toward his own. And when they did meet, Dave was not going to miss a second of it. He opened his eyes, thoroughly surprised to see Kurt's staring back at him.

"Hi," Kurt smiled into his mouth. Oh. He hadn't been sleeping. Yeah, they _definitely_ needed to talk about this. Dave had no idea where they stood, even though it seemed pretty _damn_ clear to Kurt. Dave must have conveyed that on his face, because Kurt completely misunderstood and his body stiffened in Dave's arms. "I-I I'm sorry." He scrambled out of the bed before Dave could get over his shock enough to fix it.

Dave frowned. Kurt had left. This was not okay. They needed to talk about this, which they could not do if Kurt was not here. Dave rolled onto his feet and made his way down the hall, he'd heard muttering come from the kitchen.

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><p>Kurt felt like an idiot. Of course Dave would be confused, he'd practically molested him in bed. He didn't know how he'd gotten the signals mixed, he'd been sure Dave wanted it, especially when he'd woken up in his arms. He thought he'd made it clear what he wanted when he'd told him he could come back to bed, when he'd kissed him goodnight, when they'd cuddled on the couch and watched movies all last week. Suddenly, Kurt thought of his step-brother, something he used to tell him all the time. "Not everyone speaks girl, Kurt," he said it to himself. Kurt had done it again, gone and assumed that Dave understood. He felt so stupid. "What an idiot," he muttered, leaning over the kitchen sink.<p>

Kurt felt arms wrap around his waist. A chin leaned on his shoulder and lips whispered in his ear, "Yeah, I am being one, but we'll fix it, okay? Come talk to me, Kurt." The arms retracted a little bit, leaving one at the small of his back, guiding him out of the kitchen to the couch.

"I wasn't talking about you." Kurt mumbled, mostly to himself, but he heard Dave chuckle anyway.

"So you wanna tell me why you took off just now?" Dave grabbed Kurt's chin when they sat on the couch. He didn't want him to look away anymore.

"I was... and you... but... wait, I'm confused. I thought I freaked you out so I left." Kurt looked genuinely baffled and Dave thought it was adorable.

"You kind of did, but not the way you think you did. I was alarmed that you'd been so forward, of course, but mostly because I haven't been sure of what _we_ are. Something you seem quite familiar with, care to fill me in?" Dave searched Kurt's eyes for understanding, the same way he had all those years ago. Those expressive eyes conveyed so much more this time. Dave wanted so badly for the emotions he saw to be directed at him.

"I thought we were," Kurt paused. "Together." The last word came out breathily, like he was sure Dave didn't want it.

"Only if you want to be, Kurt." Kurt nodded and Dave thought his heart would burst. "Then I'd certainly be okay with that."

Dave swooped in and captured his lips in a kiss again. It said all the things they couldn't say out loud. The kiss was comfort and love, even if they weren't ready to admit it out loud. Dave moved his tongue across Kurt's lips, delighted when they parted for him. This was really happening and he couldn't be more thrilled. He gripped Kurt around the waist and pulled him closer, amazed when Kurt's arms wound their way around his neck. They stayed like that for a while, breaking apart when air became absolutely neccessary. Dave touched his forehead to Kurt's and whispered. "Next time, things would progress a lot easier if you just told me what you wanted."

Kurt laughed and pulled back. "Sure. Breakfast?" He tapped Dave's nose and flitted into the kitchen.

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><p><strong>I don't know if I like this chapter but here it is anyway. I got distracted by Tumblr and Shrek halfway through, oops! But I finished it, finally.<strong>

**Reviews/Comments/Critiques welcome!**


	6. Making It Better

**Well, uh, *coughs* so, um, hi. That was, erm, a really really long time to be gone. Truthfully my life had a rather large shit storm occuring in it, so many many things. Anyway though I'm back and this is short but I will be updating faster now I _promise._**

**My problem right now is I have all these oneshot ideas and no story ideas but, well, I'll be posting a little bit of both now.**

**Enjoy, hopefully, it gets a wee bit angsty in there but it felt right.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p>"Kurt come back." Dave whined. He stood up from the couch and followed Kurt into the kitchen. "Breakfast can wait. I want to do this," he wound his arms around Kurt's waist, "more first."<p>

Kurt turned in Dave's arms so that he was facing him. "I'm starving so there's no way you can't be. Especially after this morning."

"Don't care." Dave mumbled into Kurt's neck. "Couch. Now. Cuddle, kiss, anything. Just want to hold you for a while longer."

"Okay, you win." Kurt relented, "We'll go back to the couch." He decided he had no real reason to object, as he didn't feel like cooking anyway.

"Yay." Dave's muffled reply hadn't moved from Kurt's neck and he didn't release his hold as he walked them back into the living room. "You smell awesome."

Kurt laughed, being pulled down onto Dave's lap once they made it to the couch. "So I've heard."

"Hmm?" Dave lifted his face and quirked his eyebrow at Kurt.

"You told me that last night when you were being drunk."

Dave laughed. "Well at least I am a fun drunk. Azimio gets horribly depressing and insightful, talks about space and how we're 'all just blips in time' and eventually 'we'll be gone, too, and no one will remember us' and 'fuck, man, are you going to die first because you can't, man, you just can't'," Dave made quotation marks around Azimio's words, imitating the man's drunken slur, "I didn't do anything embarrassing though, right?"

"Yeah, okay we'll go with that." Kurt leaned back against Dave's chest. Dave made a face at him and he laughed, "Maybe if you're good I'll tell you what happened. It wasn't _too_ bad. Probably." Kurt winked at him before snickering a little.

"Mmm," Dave hummed into Kurt's neck. "I'm sure it wasn't, after all anything that ended me up in bed with you is most definitely not '_too _bad'."

Kurt laughed a little before sighing contently.

After a few moments of listening to Dave breathe against his neck and feeling the rise and fall of the broad man's chest, Kurt was beginning to doze off. His eyelids began to droop, but fluttered open quickly at the sound of a whispered secret, "You've been my drive. For so long. You weren't even consciously in my life for the last few years but it's always been you. You made me work so hard. Try to be someone my folks could be proud of. I never told them, you know? I didn't get the chance to."

Kurt heard him sniffle and waited a moment to see if he would continue before he asked, "What happened to them?"

Dave was silent again, so Kurt added, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, Dave, if it's too hard, you don't have to talk about it."

"No, it's okay. I just- you lost your mom, didn't you?" Dave shifted his arm up from around Kurt to wipe at his eyes while Kurt answered.

"Yeah, I did, when I was eight. She died of leukemia. It was hard for a long time."

Dave didn't answer for a minute. "My parents were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was a really bad accident just off the highway. My dad - he was dead before they even got to the hospital. My mom though, she fought it, she fought for three days while they operated, tried to stitch her together, it was the longest three days of my life.

"I almost wish she'd died instantly, you know? Like he did, lucky bastard. She was in so much pain and you could tell, too, she didn't want me to see how much it hurt but I could feel it. She couldn't even talk. I remember when the doctor came out and told me. He said something like, 'We did everything we could, but I'm sorry, we lost her.' Lost her, like she was fucking missing. She's not missing, she can't be found, she's dead. Dead." Dave was outwardly crying now, burying his head into the side of Kurt's neck.

Kurt took one of the man's big hands and laced his fingers with his own. He brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed his knuckles before pulling them away slightly, to whisper against his skin, "I'm sorry, Dave. I know you probably don't like hearing that either, I didn't. I hated hearing people tell me they were sorry, but I am, that sounds awful - that _is _awful - watching her suffer. I know how that feels, too. It never got easier, but I at least had my dad. It must have been hard not to have anyone."

"I had Az." Dave mused, "He was at the hospital with me every day. My family was his family, too, though. My mom used to call him 'Azzy-dear' when she wanted something," Dave smiled, "He always acted like he hated the name but I know it made him feel like he was part of the family, and he was. He took their deaths just as hard as I did. Through all that though, he was there for me, we had each other and it made it easier."

"How—," Kurt paused, unsure if he should continue, "How long ago was it?"

"A year and a half after graduation, sophomore year of college," Dave laughed, "It's probably no coincidence that it was around the same time that I came out to Az. I guess at the time I figured it would be easier to lose everyone at once than to heal a little and then lose him, too. I do regret not telling them about me, but I like to think they'd get over it, and well, even if they wouldn't have," Dave gave a bitter laugh, "It's not like it would matter now."

"I think they would have loved you no matter what," Kurt assured him, "You're a pretty amazing guy, Dave."

Dave snorted, "You're just saying that so I'll stop crying all over your shirt."

Kurt clicked his tongue and was about to retort when Dave kissed his neck, to show that he was kidding.

Kurt turned around in the man's arms, leaning down to kiss him while he shifted up on his knees, placing one on either side of Dave's thighs. "I really do think so, you know," he said when they broke for air, "That you're great, I mean." He brought his hands to rest on the arm of the couch on either side of Dave's head and pushed until he was far enough apart to have eye contact with Dave.

"Thanks, Kurt, it means a lot." Dave slid his arms around Kurt's waist, tugging a little. Kurt dropped his arms and slid onto his side, climbing off Dave so he could curl next to him.

"Are you tired? I can get a blanket or something if you want to go back to sleep." Kurt dropped his head onto Dave's chest.

"No, shh, just cuddle. Don't go anywhere." Dave's arms tightened around him. "This is fine, perfect, even," he added.

"I'm glad I came back," Kurt whispered, tilting his head up so he could see Dave's face.

"I'm glad you did, too." Dave smiled.

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><p><strong>Well there's that and I PROMISE, promise, promise that the next part will be out by tomorrow. No more of this not updating stuff. I'm going to a festival later today but I WILL update, I WILL. <strong>

**Reviews/Comments/Critiques welcome!**

**Also, if you have an idea you'd like to see as part of this story or as a one shot PM me, I'm always looking for new prompts that intrigue me.**

**And again I'm super sorry for the wait.**

**EDIT: Also I'm going in and editing other chapters for continuity since it's been so long... I haven't touched this in a while and I keep doing things that bug me.**


	7. Making Breakfast

**What's that? I got something out when I said I was going to? Pfft, go me!**

**Enjoyyyy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p>"Dave?" Kurt whispered. The man's eyes had fluttered closed a few minutes ago and his breathing had slowed.<p>

Kurt bit his lip and wiggled a little, loosening the sleeping man's grip. Grabbing the back of the couch he pulled himself out of Dave's arms and hopped over it, onto the carpet. He grabbed a blanket from the hall closet and draped it over the man's broad shoulders before tiptoeing into the kitchen and to grab his phone. On some level he felt a little bit creepy snapping a picture of Dave but the man was curled in on himself and it was pretty cute. Also it was Dave, asleep on his couch. _Dave. _He raised the phone to take one when it buzzed in his hand, causing him to fumble the device twice before he caught it and slid the "accept call" button across the screen.

"Hello?" Kurt hissed, pressing the phone to his ear.

"Hi," the person said softly, "it's Blaine."

"Oh, hi, Blaine," Kurt glanced at Dave's face when he spoke.

"Why are we whispering?" Blaine replied, just as quietly.

"Hold on." Kurt went into his bedroom and closed the door. "Okay, hi."

"So, why the whispering?"

"Dave's asleep; I didn't want to wake him up."

"Sleepovers already, Kurt?" Blaine laughed, "Tsk, tsk."

"Oh shush, Blaine," Kurt smiled, "We had a late night and he slept over."

"So I take it everything is okay with you guys?"

"Mmhmm, no need to beat anyone up over here, tiger," Kurt teased.

"I'll have you know I'm _very _intimidating, mister, you'll see." Kurt could hear the smile in Blaine's voice and was reminded of that time a few years ago when he took Blaine to Disney Land for his birthday and he elbowed someone in the face because he was flailing so hard to get Prince Eric's picture. He snorted at the memory, prompting Blaine to add, "Ouch, Kurt, ouch. Your lack of faith in me hurts."

"Not that I don't appreciate getting the chance to make fun of you, was there a specific reason you called?" Kurt decided to do something useful while he was on the phone and exited his room, going to the kitchen to get started on some breakfast while they talked.

"I just thought I'd tell you about who I ran into the other day. You'll never guess who it was."

"Was it—"

"It was Jeremiah!"

"The GAP guy? Does he still have that hair?" Kurt cracked the eggs he'd dug out of the fridge before adding, "… and if so, is he still pretending that people don't know he's gay?"

"Better," Blaine's voice sounded excited, Kurt could picture the grin he knew was on his friend's face, "He asked me to dinner."

"Oh, ew, Blaine, really?" Kurt made a face; the guy wasn't _that _cute, "Are you going to go?"

"Sure, I'll give him a shot, why not?" Blaine sounded thoughtful, as if he were asking for Kurt to provide him for a reason not to go.

"Well on one hand, he did snub you pretty good… but, then again, you did get him fired." Kurt paused his whisking, "You know, you were kind of really dumb."

Blaine laughed, "Wow, thanks, Kurt, _such _a confidence booster."

Kurt poured the egg into the pan on the stove and snickered into the phone, "So, Blaine, I'd love to keep giving you shit but I have to go make a certain someone breakfast. Snap judgments aside I hope you have a great time on your dinner date with your blast from the past."

"And you, yours. Have a nice _breakfast._" The way Blaine emphasized the word and hung up immediately after made Kurt roll his eyes at the insinuation.

He made toast and scrambled eggs and set them out on the table before flitting back into the living room to "poke the bear" as his dad would say. It was his dad's way of telling Kurt to wake people up, especially Finn who literally slept like he was hibernating.

"Daaaave?" Kurt sat on the edge of the coffee table and shook the man's shoulder. "Dave, I come bearing gifts, well… food, but still!"

Dave groaned in his sleep and threw his arm over his face, the other groping out toward Kurt, who slid down away from the arm so he would have to sit up to grab him.

"Dave. Up, up, up. Food, Dave, breakfast. I didn't make coffee but I can, I probably should, actually."

"Oh, my god, you're one of _those_, aren't you?" Dave sounded horrified and sleepy at the same time.

"One of what?" Kurt asked, amusedly.

"A _morning person_," Dave spat out the phrase like it had personally offended him while Kurt let out a large chuckle.

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><p>It took almost twenty minutes and promises of couch cuddles after breakfast but eventually the two found themselves across from each other at Kurt's table.<p>

Kurt hummed to himself as he lightly buttered a piece of toast at the table while Dave scooped up a forkful of scrambled eggs and chewed them. He raised his eyebrow at Dave when he stood, expression intent on something, and went to the fridge. Opening it, Dave bent low in search of something. "Hmm… oh!" He straightened up with a red bottle in his hand.

Kurt grimaced at him. "Ketchup? On eggs? Ew."

"Don't knock it 'til you try it! Ketchup tastes delicious on a lot of things." He sat down heavily at the table again and gave Kurt a challenging look as he doused the eggs in ketchup.

Kurt grimaced again. "No thank you. I'd rather keep my heart beating for a few more years."

"Kurt, you're twenty four, a little bit of ketchup is not going to be deadly." Dave maturely stuck his tongue out at him. "'Sides, you got me to try dancing, you can try this for me."

Kurt snorted. "In case you don't remember, you dancing ended up with you sprawled on my bathroom floor in the middle of the night."

"Not really, beer ended up with me sprawling. Dancing ended me up with the bruise on my thigh that I do not remember getting."

Kurt nodded wisely. "Ah, yeah. That was when you tried to hug the bouncer, he was not appreciative."

"Did I do anything else I should regret?"

"Not really." Kurt mused, "After all, like you said before, look where we ended up." He smiled at this and Dave smiled back. Dave looked down at the table to find their fingers entwined. When had that happened? He found that he didn't really mind.

"Well how can I argue when you say things like that?" Dave chuckled. This was really nice.

"You can't. That's why I'm awesome and I always win." Kurt smiled smugly and took a bite of the toast.

"Oh really now?" Dave quirked up an eyebrow.

"Yeah, really." Kurt looked challengingly at Dave, who just smiled and shook his head.

"You have quite an ego on you, Hummel." Dave paused. "Not that I mind. It's cute."

"I do not have an ego." Kurt snorted indignantly. "I just know the truth." He smirked at Dave and stood up from the table. "Orange juice? Toast and banter make me thirsty." He shuffled to the fridge and pulled out the carton.

"Sure, but then I gotta head home and grab a couple things for later." He hesitated. "Unless you didn't want me to come back. I could just go."

"Nonsense, grab your stuff and come back soon. You're too much fun to get rid of. Besides, you compliment me and well, that's just awesome." He flashed a grin at Dave and came back to the table with two glassfuls of juice.

"Humble Hummel." Dave mumbled into the glass Kurt handed him. Kurt smirked and took a sip of his drink.

They finished breakfast and Dave reluctantly headed to the door with Kurt at his heels. Kurt walked him to his car and leaned into it to peck him on the cheek. "Bye." He said, almost too sadly for someone who was going to see him again in a couple hours.

"I'm not going to be gone forever, Kurt." Dave laughed and turned his head to lean in for a proper goodbye kiss. "What are we doing for dinner?" He asked as he pulled away.

"Don't worry about that, got it covered." Kurt's smile was oddly mischievous and Dave couldn't help but be suspicious.

"Okay. Be safe." Dave told him. "Don't do anything illegal, anyway; I'd hate to get called in today."

Kurt laughed. "Drive safely, Dave." He stepped back from the car, blew Dave a kiss, and retreated into his apartment once more.

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><p>It was ten minutes from Kurt's apartment to the house Dave shared with his friend. Dave had lived there for most of his life and it was the only thing steady in his life other than Az. Which is why when Dave got home he was greeted with a loud, "Where the fuck have you been, man?" from the large man he lived with.<p>

"Kurt's. What's your deal, Az?" Dave set his keys on the table by Az and moved further in the house, intending to start gathering things immediately.

"Check your phone, dumb ass." Dave did so and was greeted with fifteen missed calls.

"Oh." Dave blinked. "Something happen?"

"No, but shit," Azimio slumped against the wall, "you can't just disappear. You scared the fuck out of me, I was about to borrow a tracker for your cell phone signal."

"Sorry, Az. Also, that's illegal. Twenty-four hours, remember?" Dave did feel bad though; he hadn't meant to make him worry. "I'm gonna pack a couple things, Kurt wants to have dinner."

"Last time I heard, you two weren't together. You have been spending a lot of time with him, is there something you forgot to tell me?"

"You know for someone who is so adamantly straight you sure do hop on the gossip bandwagon really fast." Dave mused, grinning at his friend while he scooped up his duffle bag and started throwing things in there.

"Shut up and spill it, ass." Azimio crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against Dave's doorframe.

"That's a contradiction," he chided, "Also, name-calling is really not the way to get anything out of anyone." He batted his eyelashes at his friend teasingly before flashing him a grin and continuing on his quest to get back to Kurt's as soon as possible.

"Yeah, I know, that's why I grabbed your car keys, too." The man held up the keychain triumphantly.

"Aw, fucker," Dave laughed, even though he wasn't really surprised. "Fine, I'll tell you but then I have to go."

When Azimio nodded to indicate he was listening, Dave continued, "We're together but as far as I know we're just taking things in stride right now, seeing where it goes. Really I'm just lucky he gave me a shot. I wouldn't have given me shit if I were him," Dave sounded genuinely astonished, "I just hope I don't fuck it up, you know?"

Az nodded again, "Okay, man, great. I hope things are all gay happy rainbows and shit for you two." Once Dave would have thought Az was mocking him, but now he knew it was just his way of showing he cared.

Dave nodded and zipped up the bag as he headed to the front door. He locked it and got about three steps toward his car before he remembered he hadn't grabbed his keys. Swearing, he turned and knocked on the door.

"Yeeeees?" Azimio's face appeared in the crack of the doorway, grinning madly. Dave held out his hand silently and rolled his eyes when the, now laughing, man placed his keys in his palm. "Have fun, Daaaaavey," he said, before closing the door again.

Dave headed to his car, shaking his head and contemplating getting new friends before he sat down in the driver's seat and pulled out his phone.

_On my way back now, be there soon. _

He didn't have to wait long before he received, _Oh boy! Can't wait._ Dave smiled at the screen and pulled out of the driveway.

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><p><strong>Hmmmm.<strong>

**Comments/Reviews/Critiques welcome!**

**Uhm, so as a special treat for being a terrible terrible updater I might up the rating if you know what I mean *wink* *wink* but I'm not going to if no one expresses any interest in me doing so. After all, it's a treat for yooouuuu.**

**The next chapter already has some things written so it shouldn't be too long.**


	8. Author's note

This is not a story update but I didn't want to disappear without any notice. Basically my laptop needs a new battery and until then I get on that I can't update since all of my stuff is on there. However I will be writing while I am away and when I return you can expect quick updates! I apologize for the inconvenience, it really is super annoying (I got my pottermore early entry too and I can't even do anything about that either :/) This will be replaced by a chapter when I have a real update for you. Until then I am going to painstakingly type up a one shot on this stupid thing that is super annoying to type things on just for youuuuu. It should be up sometime before the weekend. I love you guys so much, your reviews make me so happy and a smutty oneshot is on the way! 


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